Part 1 (First day) : When I landed from the airplane and walked down the airport the turbulence in me failed to feel the softness and the serenity of the land . As the car swooshed pass the wonderful landscape sketched by rivers meeting sea and churches standing quiet and strong, I was crying within. I could realize how a little dream carved a vast space in me and I was shattered completely when it didn’t come true. This place is far away from my home, I have never been to such a place with such a different flavour in my country before. The very mention of the name of this place raises eye brows and brings a broad smile, but I craved earnestly to be back home to weep and hide in my mother’s lap and shut myself away from rest of the world, till the storm settles down and I regain my own self.The night before was terrible and my journey through the clouds was painful.
Goa did welcome me with open arms; I was reluctant to feel it.
Part 2 (NIO): An explicable feeling ran down my spine when I stood in front of the building written-‘National Institute of Oceanography’. The place was so huge. I entered as if an explorer ready to discover the secrets and plunder all its wealth. I walked through the corridors, walked past the name plates behind which was hidden the big brains working with the secrets of the seas. My grief and pain already seemed so little in front of the enormity of the place. Wishing it to be a new beginning I set off to meet the people I was supposed to start with. Table no-7 was the new number I was assigned to,”a table meant for me?” I was already feeling the warmth of being welcomed to a new family. I walked into the room named ‘scholars lab geology’, my eyes beamed reading the name. Somewhere down my childhood memory, I once dreamt to be in a place like this; a science place with scientists all round. I wanted a break from the hefty studies (that I had to do to face the graduation examination) and enjoy a good amount of time all for myself to ponder over issues that dance around in my head. Wishing myself good days ahead I switched on my laptop.
Part 3 (Apartment and room-mates): I named my room nothing, even though I wanted to. I always had a name given to the first things I own, like my first guitar, my first camera, my first cycle and so on. I have always stayed at home, never been to a hostel before so the room gave me a kind of independence and to enjoy it for the first time I wanted to name it. But didn’t, I let it stay just a room. It was painted yellow, with a big window and a verandah which opened out to the green field bordered by coconut trees. It was an apartment which I had to share with two other girls from Delhi. I have heard about roommates before and have read stories about the troubles they give. However, we three ended up having a little story full of secrets and lots of memories to share and remember for life. That little story started with a cold coffee made for me by my room-mate on my first night.
Mum called from the airport that they were leaving, I should have felt something, a little tears or fear but strangely I didn’t feel anything of that sort. It must have been my tiredness that I wasn’t missing home or I wasn’t feeling like an alien which I was feeling few hours before.
Part 4 (Rest of the stay): Next morning and the following working days turned out to be similar, and as days went by, unknown faces became known and the ‘huge’ place started to become my place. The feeling of being a part of the celebration of science and knowledge was the way I was revisiting life.
It was lovely to watch the drizzle in the morning, grey sky backlit cliffs letting the colours of green tree and red soil to look like a picture from my verandah. It was Saturday morning and four of us hired scooty and we went for a road trip.
We travelled 30 km that day. My first ever scooty ride with a group of same aged people-a ‘roadie’ like experience. I was singing songs letting my pains away with tunes. We went to a light house and some abandoned fort that day. On our way back there was slight drizzle, I started to enjoy at first, then it became intense and finally started pouring cats and dogs. My friends had their raincoats while I was only in plain clothes. I was drenched badly soaking wet and shivering. The only warmth I felt when my friend asked me “are you all right dear, shall I stop somewhere? “ As the pour got even more intense I pressed my face on her back, I couldn’t watch a thing and finally she lost control and we skid on the road. The bike fell with us and I was smeared with clay. There was no major bruises or injuries only slight damage to the head lights. I could not see anything, it was already dark and my glasses were all clayey and watery. We were getting late so without waiting we again started to drive back home. I was worried about catching cold .Nothing happened to me the next morning, I was perfectly fine. I didn’t inform ma, I didn’t want her to worry unnecessarily. For once I was being my guardian and taking up my responsibilities so was enjoying doing it.
The next few days, rather the rest 40 days went by with incidents, stories people all summing up to the tearful goodbye from my lab-mates and room-mates who hired a car for me and came all the way down to the airport to bid me farewell. When you stay in a place for this long you do come across some people who give you a cold shoulder or behave annoyingly. Strangely, nothing of that sort happened at Goa. Everyone seemed to be good and I’m thankful to all the people I have come across especially at my workplace (NIO) words are too less to acknowledge them.
My mother used to say, in life when one door closes, be patient to find many other doors opening for you, I have heard it innumerable times, it was only in Goa I experienced it. In the following weeks I received good news from Kolkata and slowly the woe which filled me vanished. I had choices in my career and could weave a fresh dream in my mind.
The end: The plane took off; this land of paradise looked smaller and smaller until I could see the entire Goa out of the window. I remembered something that my father said looking at me a month back, when I was cribbing about the fact that so much money was being spent on this trip which was unnecessary. He told me then-‘ you shouldn’t judge anything by just the present state of the situation, when you return from this place you will realize you are taking a lot of things with you, which even money can’t buy’. On my day of return I realized he was so true.
The aircraft slid between the clouds and I headed home to a new beginning.
